28 Comments
So, this sentence in particular could mean: I thought the same thing, I was thinking the same thing and also I used to think the same thing.....?
I think it does mean all three of them, it could be used in any of those cases.
Libellule: Pensavo can also be translated as "I thought". In fact as I understand it, it may be a more logical way of translating it than "ho pensato" because thinking isn't usually a momentary, isolated event that happens and is over.
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'I thought' is one time in the past while 'I was thinking is continuous (more than once) and thus imperfect.
I do believe that as it is imperfect tense that "I used to think" is perfectly acceptable
Tony, I defintely think that's the sense of it, which is more important (to me) than replcating the specific words. It's obvious you understood the sentence and for me that's the goal of one learning another language.
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"I used to think the same thing". I find that "used to" is a good way to express passato imperfetto.
Whats the difference in meaning between "I was thinking the same thing" vs. "I have thought the same thing" (Imperfetto vs Passato Prossimo)
I thought that i can say " I were thinking the same thing"...we can use both with I "was" and "were", isn't it?
If I understand your question correctly, then "I were thinking" for the past is incorrect. It'd only be correct if "it were" the subjunctive, for hypothetical situations: "If I were a native Italian, I would speak fluent Italian." Vs. "I was a native Italian, and so I spoke fluent Italian."
I was surprised that my translation " I was thinking of the same thing" was not accepted as correct. I grew up using , hearing other English speakers say " to think of (something), to think about something or somebody. Spanish speakers would always say" pensar en (algo) pensar en alguien . What I remember is that one should not translate word for word. Instead, translate the foreign sentence in the manner that is acceptable in your language.
I think the problem is your including "of". "I was thinking the same thing" and "I was thinking OF the same thing" aren't expressing the same idea. The former means that "you" and someone else were thinking alike, you both had the same idea about something. The latter is more specific and means that "you" and the other person were both thinking OF the same object, which might imply you agree about it, but that's not necessarily the same as thinking alike. E.g You & someone else find out that you both want to buy a car, because you both need one. So you're thinking of the same thing, namely a new car. That doesn't mean you both feel it's the right time or the right price to actually buy the car. You're thinking OF the same thing, a new car, but you aren't necessarily thinking the same way, alike. Including OF doesn't sound like much of a difference, but I believe there is.
I'm at a loss as to why "I would think the same thing" wouldn't be acceptable?
urboydoms: 'would think' comes across more as a hypothetical, requring the subjunctive in English: "I would think the same thing...if I were the student." for example. "Would" can certainly be used for an habitual action in the past, as in "When I was a kid, I would always think about going to the zoo." But without a clearer context, your suggestion sounds more like the subjunctive use of 'would' than the English past, which is what the italian form 'pensavo' is.
"I thought the same thing" was about the fifth arbitrary rejection in this particular exercise. The worst was "Were you thinking of me?" which for some reason one was supposed to know "you" was plural, which is a very odd assumption. I don't like when someone answers "it depends on the context" because we are given no context. That's why these arbitrary "answers" are so annoying.
"I thought..." should have been accepted & should be reported. As regards "you" plural, I'd have to see the original -- if the exercise was a translation into Italian DL usually accepts tu, voi, or Lei -- assuming the dreaded context isn't clearer. If it's a translation into English, then use of those pronouns or in their absence the verb form should clearly tell you which one to use. That's not arbitrary at all.
Is there a big difference between "I thought the same thing" and "I thought of the same thing"? (the last one was not accepted)
I said 'I was thinking of the same thing', did the 'of' not find its place there or is it an error?
